In the time of the year, when the inner world beckons, we will come together to explore what it means to create beautiful and meaningful rituals and ceremonies on the labyrinth. On Friday evening, we will participate in a ritual of inward turning, evoking the themes of the season: advent, hibernation and cultivation of the inner light.

On Saturday we will reflect upon our Friday evening experience to explore the elements of ritual creation. Lauren and Judith will give examples of successful rituals that they have incorporated in their labyrinth work. You will have the opportunity to create a ritual or ceremony to take back to your community. We will use the labyrinth as a laboratory for our creativity.

Some of the topics we will cover include:

Choosing the theme—seasonal, special occasion, anniversary

Designing the sequence and the importance of pacing

The use of storytelling

Developing the voice to guide a ritual

Using your intuition to guide the flow of events

The use of music, poetry, scripture to enhance the experience

The use of flowers, candles, sacred objects

Suggested Reading List:

Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Practiceby Lauren Artress

The Sacred Path Companion: A Guide to Walking the Labyrinth to Heal and Transform by Lauren Artress

Circleway, the Story of the Women’s Dream Questby Judith Tripp

Bios:

The Reverend Dr. Lauren Artress is author of Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Practice, The Sand Labyrinth Kit and The Sacred Path Companion: A Guide to Walking the Labyrinth to Heal and Transform (Putnam/Riverhead Books, New York). She serves as a Canon at Grace Cathedral and is Founder of Veriditas a non-profit dedicated to introduce people the healing, meditative powers of the labyrinth. She travels worldwide offering workshops and lectures on the labyrinth including a twice a year program in Chartres, France. In addition to being an Episcopal priest, she is a spiritual director and licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the State of California.

Judith Tripp, MA, MFT is a psychotherapist, musician, teacher and certified Labyrinth facilitator. She travels worldwide offering Women’s Dream Quests, pilgrimages and retreats. She is the author of the book, Circleway, the Story of the Women’s Dream Quest and has created several CDs of meditative flute music.

Friday and Saturday Workshop will be followed by a Veriditas Facilitator Training.

The goal of Veriditas Labyrinth Facilitator Training is to prepare people to introduce others to the labyrinth in an articulate, professional and effective way.The training addresses meditative walking in a variety of settings, with a variety of different populations. It is focused primarily on the Eleven Circuit Medieval Labyrinth but is inclusive of all forms.

Walking the labyrinth is being embraced as a spiritual practice throughout the Western world mostly because of Veriditas trained facilitators. The Veriditas Facilitator Training -- which began in 1997 -- remains the most rigorous and comprehensive training offered.

How to know if Facilitator Training is right for you?

Want to deepen your own labyrinth practice?

Want the tools and guidance that will enable you to bring the labyrinth to your community?

Want to connect with a supportive community of Labyrinth Facilitators around the world?

Considering offering labyrinth walking as part of your healing, counseling, yoga or coaching business and are curious about the business considerations involved?

Love the labyrinth and want to offer workshops of your own? Consider completing Facilitator Training on the path to becoming Certified, Advance Trained and Accredited. Our Veriditas Accredited Presenters are now offering some of our qualifying workshops.

Join us and submerge yourself in the world of labyrinths. Veriditas is offering a potpourri of experiences designed to teach you everything you ever wanted to know about walking and building labyrinths - all in one week. Join us for the whole week for the discounted price of $1200. See accommodation information (sold separately) below.

Lecture and Workshop with Lauren Artress

An evening introductory lecture and one day workshop for anyone interested in beginning or renewing their connection to the labyrinth.

Facilitator Training with Lauren Artress

An in-depth professional training to learn to present and work with the labyrinth in a variety of settings and differing audiences.

Labyrinth Design and Drawing
with Lars Howlett

Learn the art of sacred geometry from Classical seed patterns to the elegant symmetry and symbolism of the Chartres labyrinth in a one-day workshop offered by professional labyrinth builder, Lars Howlett. Drawing labyrinths is an easy, relaxing, and fun way to understand this ancient archetype for beginners and experts alike. Lars will share the defining elements of what makes a labyrinth and explain the ins and outs of various designs including photos, diagrams, and hands-on exercises.

Taught in a classroom setting, students will receive a workbook highlighting the history, classification, and methods for drawing traditional or one-of-a-kind labyrinths. Students can apply new skills in the creation of finger labyrinths, artistic projects, or formal plans for a large-scale installation. This is a great opportunity to learn about a diversity of designs, explore how and why certain patterns resonate with people, and gain the confidence to explain and introduce the definition and philosophy of these beloved symbols to others.

Labyrinth Materials and Constructionwith Lars Howlett

Do you dream of building a temporary or permanent labyrinth for yourself or your community? In this two-day experiential workshop, professional labyrinth builder, Lars Howlett will lead you in the creation of walkable Classical, Chartres, and modified Contemporary Labyrinths. Techniques for efficient and accurate installation will be demonstrated including many tools. See first-hand how intention, design, proportions, materials, site, and alignment benefit the labyrinth and those who walk it.

Stories and slideshows will explore the best options for a variety of communities and settings, from schools to festivals, churches to hospitals, backyards to public parks and more. Learn how to appropriately alter proportions, paths, circuits, and the center to fit a variety of environments. See photos from Lars’ professional projects and pilgrimages to sacred sites around the world including Chartres, Iona, and Sweden. The cost and qualities of dozens of different materials will be discussed, from tape to canvas, rubber mulch to grass, pavers to stone and more. Receive feedback on your own designs and projects and take the next step in realizing your dream labyrinth!

Join us and submerge yourself in the world of labyrinths. Veriditas is offering a potpourri of experiences designed to teach you everything you ever wanted to know about walking and building labyrinths - all in one week. Join us for the whole week for the discounted price of $1200. See accommodation information (sold separately) below.

Workshop with Lauren Artress

An evening introductory lecture and one day workshop for anyone interested in beginning or renewing their connection to the labyrinth.

The goal of Veriditas Labyrinth Facilitator Training is to prepare people to introduce others to the labyrinth in an articulate, professional and effective way.The training addresses meditative walking in a variety of settings, with a variety of different populations. It is focused primarily on the Eleven Circuit Medieval Labyrinth but is inclusive of all forms.

Walking the labyrinth is being embraced as a spiritual practice throughout the Western world mostly because of Veriditas trained facilitators. The Veriditas Facilitator Training -- which began in 1997 -- remains the most rigorous and comprehensive training offered.

How to know if Facilitator Training is right for you?

Want to deepen your own labyrinth practice?

Want the tools and guidance that will enable you to bring the labyrinth to your community?

Want to connect with a supportive community of Labyrinth Facilitators around the world?

Considering offering labyrinth walking as part of your healing, counseling, yoga or coaching business and are curious about the business considerations involved?

Love the labyrinth and want to offer workshops of your own? Consider completing Facilitator Training on the path to becoming Certified, Advance Trained and Accredited. Our Veriditas Accredited Presenters are now offering some of our qualifying workshops.

Learn the art of sacred geometry from Classical seed patterns to the elegant symmetry and symbolism of the Chartres labyrinth in a one-day workshop offered by professional labyrinth builder, Lars Howlett. Drawing labyrinths is an easy, relaxing, and fun way to understand this ancient archetype for beginners and experts alike. Lars will share the defining elements of what makes a labyrinth and explain the ins and outs of various designs including photos, diagrams, and hands-on exercises.

Taught in a classroom setting, students will receive a workbook highlighting the history, classification, and methods for drawing traditional or one-of-a-kind labyrinths. Students can apply new skills in the creation of finger labyrinths, artistic projects, or formal plans for a large-scale installation. This is a great opportunity to learn about a diversity of designs, explore how and why certain patterns resonate with people, and gain the confidence to explain and introduce the definition and philosophy of these beloved symbols to others.

Do you dream of building a temporary or permanent labyrinth for yourself or your community? In this two-day experiential workshop, professional labyrinth builder, Lars Howlett will lead you in the creation of walkable Classical, Chartres, and modified Contemporary Labyrinths. Techniques for efficient and accurate installation will be demonstrated including many tools. See first-hand how intention, design, proportions, materials, site, and alignment benefit the labyrinth and those who walk it.

Stories and slideshows will explore the best options for a variety of communities and settings, from schools to festivals, churches to hospitals, backyards to public parks and more. Learn how to appropriately alter proportions, paths, circuits, and the center to fit a variety of environments. See photos from Lars’ professional projects and pilgrimages to sacred sites around the world including Chartres, Iona, and Sweden. The cost and qualities of dozens of different materials will be discussed, from tape to canvas, rubber mulch to grass, pavers to stone and more. Receive feedback on your own designs and projects and take the next step in realizing your dream labyrinth!

OPEN ONLY TO CERTIFIED FACILITATORS

Advanced Training is an advanced leadership and skill-building workshop for Veriditas Facilitators with at least one year of experience facilitating labyrinth activities.

If you are a Certified Facilitator, you are on a select list for this invitation to attend the Veriditas Advanced Training. You have been certified, and we hope you have continued to work with the labyrinth over time. We deeply appreciate your work.

One of our goals is to bring community around your work. Over the years facilitators have requested further training. We have responded by developing the Advanced Facilitator Training that covers:

SAVE THE DATE for a Veriditas Qualifying Labyrinth Workshop with the Reverend Dr. Kay Mutert at the Unitarian Universalist Church IN LANCASTER, PA.

Led by Veriditas Master Teacher,

the Reverend Dr. Kay Mutert ...

Kay uses her experience as musician, minister, and teacher in working with groups and individuals from all arenas of life, inviting them to discover the possibilities of the labyrinth in the journey to experience a reconnection with the sacredness of life. She has worked with labyrinths for the past 12 years. Kay's focus is on helping others find ways for renewal of mind, body, spirit and creative energy, through retreats, workshops and sacred events. Kay served congregations in the United Methodist Church and the British Methodist Church. Before that she worked as a music educator and musician in Florida and Alabama. She is a conductor, composer and pianist, wanting to let her love for the spirit of music and movement speak to the hearts of others.

Kay has served as musician and program presenter at Iona Abbey, and has been an associate of the international ecumenical Iona Community based in Scotland. She offers workshops and worship experiences utilizing the resources of Iona, Taize and global music.

Kay believes the ancient archetype of the labyrinth serves as a strong source of possibility for today's world, in meditation, reconciliation, peace-making, for young and old, for cross-cultures, for community and personal use. Through her experience in the a variety of settings, Kay works to honor the non-verbal expression of meaning, as felt in the labyrinth, through movement, and through visual and musical expressions.

Meeting Mary at Chartres – a two day experience of the Sacred Feminine.

Led by Judith Tripp, MA, MFT, a member of the Veriditas Faculty, a transpersonal psychotherapist, leader of Women's Dream Quest, and teacher. She leads pilgrimages and retreats in the US, Europe and Australia. She is also an author, a musician and singer.

Anyone who comes to Chartres whether it be to visit the labyrinth, to explore the magnificent medieval architecture or to meditate in the glory of this always sacred site, soon realizes that this holy place is an homage to Mary. The Sacred Feminine is alive and well in Chartres and has been throughout history.

Over this weekend, we will create a sacred circle to explore how Mary has been honored in Chartres throughout history. We will meet her spirit through lecture, meditation, art, music and ritual. We will share insights, creations and stories. Our time will include special evening in Chartres Cathedral, with a procession and a candle-lit labyrinth walk with flute and vocal music.

This can be a stand-alone workshop or a perfect pairing with to Cycle One of Walking A Sacred Path.

Below is a 20 minute webinar which outlines what you can expect in this mini Pilgrimage.

Constantly bombarded by information and overloaded with knowledge, what we lack is wisdom. We need wisdom to articulate and solve the problems facing humanity. So, can we "learn" wisdom? Yes, through the ancient art of storytelling...

In our morning seminars, we will nurture wisdom though the labyrinth's four-fold process. Drawing upon the rich wisdom traditions around the world, we will REMEMBER that we are blessed, RELEASE what no longer serves us, RECEIVE guidance along the path, and RETURN to our Ground of Being.

Lauren Artress will provide stories and invite reflection journaling and discussion. We will create a wisdom community that connects, nourishes and deepens our capacity to birth wisdom into our lives.

What better place to nurture wisdom than the sacred space of Chartres Cathedral. We begin with a reception to meet each other followed by an opening ritual and orientation to the program. Then each day, there is a morning seminar, a small processing group, and an experience of what Chartres has to offer. Tuesday evening holds a unique Pilgrim's Walk through the Crypt of Chartres Cathedral, on Wednesday, an orientation to the labyrinth and a once in a life-time candlelit labyrinth walk with medieval music on the Chartres Labyrinth, on Thursday a tour of the Cathedral itself, and a closing celebratory dinner on Friday.

On the Labyrinth:
Lauren Artress’ Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Practice and The Sacred Path Companion: Using the Labyrinth to Heal and TransformJill Geoffrion’s Praying the Labyrinth

On Medieval Times:William Manchester’s When the World was Lit Only by Fire

On Storytelling: Storytelling Magazine published by the National Storytelling Network www.storynet.org

Safety Concerns?

As you probably know, the U.S. government is continuing its Worldwide Caution with respect to foreign travel in general. France is not specifically mentioned in the latest update. On a separate website, the U.S. embassy in France notes that the French government is continuing its reinforced security measures. The State Department provides a program for concerned travelers to receive security messages and make it easier to locate you in an emergency: see Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP).

The goal of Veriditas Labyrinth Facilitator Training is to prepare people to introduce others to the labyrinth in an articulate, professional and effective way.The training addresses meditative walking in a variety of settings, with a variety of different populations. It is focused primarily on the Eleven Circuit Medieval Labyrinth but is inclusive of all forms.

Walking the labyrinth is being embraced as a spiritual practicethroughout the Western world mostly because of Veriditas trained facilitators. The Veriditas Facilitator Training -- which began in 1997 -- remains the most rigorous and comprehensive training offered.

How to know if Facilitator Training is right for you?

Want to deepen your own labyrinth practice?

Want the tools and guidance that will enable you to bring the labyrinth to your community?

Want to connect with a supportive community of Labyrinth Facilitators around the world?

Considering offering labyrinth walking as part of your healing, counseling, yoga or coaching business and are curious about the business considerations involved?

Love the labyrinth and want to offer workshops of your own? Consider completing Facilitator Training on the path to becoming Certified, Advance Trained and Accredited. Our Veriditas Accredited Presenters are now offering some of our qualifying workshops.

We encourage you to join us!

Please note: prior attendance at a Veriditas qualifying workshop is required. Either of the two weeks surrounding this training in Chartres are considered qualifying workshops.

Pilgrimage is as much an inner journey as it is an outer one. You are invited to travel to the frontier of your soul to discover the hidden presence of the divine in every step you take. Christine Valters Paintner will be sharing eight stages of the pilgrim's way–from hearing the call to packing lightly to being uncomfortable to coming home—in support of making an intentional, transformative journey to your own inner "wild edges." Through stories from the Celtic spiritual tradition, contemplative practices. teaching, sharing, creative exploration, music, and movement we will uncover the ways your own journey is breaking open something new.

Together we will cultivate attentiveness to the divine in daily life through deep listening and opening ourselves to the profound gifts that arise in the midst of discomfort and mystery. Often it is at times of life transition that we are called to approach a new threshold. Pilgrimage can be a way of navigating these crossings with grace and awareness. You will come away from the retreat with powerful practices to ground and guide you, a new appreciation for the spiritual gifts of being uncomfortable, and the invitation to continue the pilgrimage of discovery in the midst of your own life.

Bio:

Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE

is the online Abbess of AbbeyoftheArts.com, a global online monastery integrating contemplative practice and creative expression. She is a retreat leader, spiritual director, and the author of ten books on monastic spirituality and the arts including The Soul of a Pilgrim: Eight Practices for the Journey Within. Four years ago she embarked on her own life pilgrimage which brought her eventually to Ireland where she lives with her husband and together they lead pilgrimages and writing retreats to the sacred and wild edges.

On the Labyrinth:
Lauren Artress’ Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Practice and The Sacred Path Companion: Using the Labyrinth to Heal and TransformJill Geoffrion’s Praying the Labyrinth

On Medieval Times:William Manchester’s When the World was Lit Only by Fire

On Storytelling: Storytelling Magazine published by the National Storytelling Network www.storynet.org

Safety Concerns?

As you probably know, the U.S. government is continuing its Worldwide Caution with respect to foreign travel in general. France is not specifically mentioned in the latest update. On a separate website, the U.S. embassy in France notes that the French government is continuing its reinforced security measures. The State Department provides a program for concerned travelers to receive security messages and make it easier to locate you in an emergency: see Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP).

SAVE THE DATE for Labyrinth Summer School this July at the Earthrise Retreat Center in Petaluma, California with Lauren Artress and Lars Howlett.

Join us and immerse yourself in the world of labyrinths. Veriditas is offering a potpourri of experiences designed to teach you everything you ever wanted to know about walking and building labyrinths - all in one week. Join us for the whole week for the discounted price of $1250.

Lecture and Workshop with Lauren Artress

An evening introductory lecture and one day workshop for anyone interested in beginning or renewing their connection to the labyrinth. Workshop also serves as the pre-requisite for those going on to Facilitator Training.

Facilitator Training with Lauren Artress

An in-depth professional training to learn to present and work with the labyrinth in a variety of settings and differing audiences.

Labyrinth Design and Drawing
with Lars Howlett

Learn the art of sacred geometry from Classical seed patterns to the elegant symmetry and symbolism of the Chartres labyrinth in a one-day workshop offered by professional labyrinth builder, Lars Howlett. Drawing labyrinths is an easy, relaxing, and fun way to understand this ancient archetype for beginners and experts alike. Lars will share the defining elements of what makes a labyrinth and explain the ins and outs of various designs including photos, diagrams, and hands-on exercises.

Labyrinth Materials and Constructionwith Lars Howlett

Do you dream of building a temporary or permanent labyrinth for yourself or your community? In this two-day experiential workshop, professional labyrinth builder, Lars Howlett will lead you in the creation of walkable Classical, Chartres, and modified Contemporary Labyrinths. Techniques for efficient and accurate installation will be demonstrated including many tools. See first-hand how intention, design, proportions, materials, site, and alignment benefit the labyrinth and those who walk it.

This summer, Pope Francis lauded Mary Magdalene as a model for humanity, reclaiming her ancient title of Apostle to the Apostles. In this five day pilgrimage, Magdalene scholar Kayleen Asbo, PhD will weave together history, art, music and spiritual practices that illuminate the central transformative role Mary Magdalene has held for such pivotal figures as St Francis, St Teresa of Avila and Catherine of Sienna. We'll explore how Mary Magdalene embodies the archetype of healing, wholeness and integration--and what she can mean for us in our 21st century lives today.

Brief bio:

Kayleen Asbo, Ph.D is lecturer at the Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, Dominican University and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Music Historian in Residence for the Santa Rosa Symphony. Her PhD dissertation was "Passion and Paradox: The Myths of Mary Magdalene in Music, Art and Culture". She has lectured on Mary Magdalene for UC Berkeley, the Graduate Theological Union, the San Francisco Opera, Oxford University in England, the New York Open Center Esoteric Quest in Carcassonne, France, the Assisi Institute of Depth Psychology in Italy and for churches and Jung Institutes across the country. Dr. Asbo leads sacred pilgrimages to Europe, including In the Footsteps of Mary Magdalene, a yearly journey to Provence. Her pioneering work has been hailed for its integration of head and heart, a "brilliant combination of impeccable scholarship and pure passion". You can learn more about her at www.kayleenasbo.com

*Our gratitude to the artist Brut Cariollus for permission to use the artwork featured for this event.

Safety Concerns?

As you probably know, the U.S. government is continuing its Worldwide Caution with respect to foreign travel in general. France is not specifically mentioned in the latest update. On a separate website, the U.S. embassy in France notes that the French government is continuing its reinforced security measures. The State Department provides a program for concerned travelers to receive security messages and make it easier to locate you in an emergency: see Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP).

As part of our bi-yearly Labyrinth by the Sea retreat series, a stand-alone, 1-day qualifying labyrinth workshop will be offered. The day provides insight into the labyrinth, including its history, its sacred geometry, its use as a spiritual tool, and its purpose in our lives today.

The goal of Veriditas Labyrinth Facilitator Training is to prepare people to introduce others to the labyrinth in an articulate, professional and effective way.The training addresses meditative walking in a variety of settings, with a variety of different populations. It is focused primarily on the Eleven Circuit Medieval Labyrinth but is inclusive of all forms.

Walking the labyrinth is being embraced as a spiritual practicethroughout the Western world mostly because of Veriditas trained facilitators. The Veriditas Facilitator Training -- which began in 1997 -- remains the most rigorous and comprehensive training offered.

How to know if Facilitator Training is right for you?

Want to deepen your own labyrinth practice?

Want the tools and guidance that will enable you to bring the labyrinth to your community?

Want to connect with a supportive community of Labyrinth Facilitators around the world?

Considering offering labyrinth walking as part of your healing, counseling, yoga or coaching business and are curious about the business considerations involved?

Love the labyrinth and want to offer workshops of your own? Consider completing Facilitator Training on the path to becoming Certified, Advance Trained and Accredited. Our Veriditas Accredited Presenters are now offering some of our qualifying workshops.

We encourage you to join us!

Please note: prior attendance at a Veriditas qualifying workshop is required. The Pilgrimage prior to this training in Chartres is considered a qualifying workshop.

Veriditas is dedicated to inspiring personal and planetary change and renewal through the labyrinth experience.

We accomplish our mission by training and supporting labyrinth facilitators around the world, and offering meaningful events that promote further understanding of the labyrinth as a tool for personal and community transformation. Our Vision is that the labyrinth experience guides us in developing the higher level of human awareness we need to thrive in the 21st century.